Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”
Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you.”
But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:
“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day. I have moved from one tent site to another, from one dwelling place to another. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders whom I commanded to shepherd my people, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’
“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.
“‘I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’”
Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said:
“Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, my God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. You, Lord God, have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men.
“What more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant, Lord. For the sake of your servant and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made known all these great promises.
“There is no one like you, Lord, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.
“And now, Lord, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised, so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever. Then people will say, ‘The Lord Almighty, the God over Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And the house of your servant David will be established before you.
“You, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. So your servant has found courage to pray to you. You, Lord, are God! You have promised these good things to your servant. Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, Lord, have blessed it, and it will be blessed forever.”

• 1 Chronicles 17:1-27

In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its surrounding villages from the control of the Philistines.
David also defeated the Moabites, and they became subject to him and brought him tribute.
Moreover, David defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah, in the vicinity of Hamath, when he went to set up his monument at the Euphrates River. David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses.
When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of them. He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought him tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.
David took the gold shields carried by the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. From Tebah and Kun, towns that belonged to Hadadezer, David took a great quantity of bronze, which Solomon used to make the bronze Sea, the pillars and various bronze articles.
When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, he sent his son Hadoram to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory in battle over Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold, of silver and of bronze.
King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold he had taken from all these nations: Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek.
Abishai son of Zeruiah struck down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.
David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people. Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelek son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha was secretary; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief officials at the king’s side.

• 1 Chronicles 18:1-17

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

1 Chronicles 17:7-14 ‘The Messiah, the Son of David’: “In 2 Samuel 7:8-16 and 1 Chronicles 17:7-14 (which are parallel passages) we find the establishment of the Davidic Covenant, the unconditional set of promises that God made to David of a perpetual dynasty, an unshakable kingdom, and an eternal throne. God established an indissoluble covenant in which David was promised that one of his descendants would forever rule over Israel (2 Samuel 7:12-13; Psalm 89:3-4; 132:11). Although these promises are not actually labeled as a covenant per se within the text of these two passages, they were later recognized as a covenant (2 Samuel 23:5; 1 Kings 8:23; 2 Chronicles 13:5; Psalm 89:3,28,34,39; Isaiah 55:3).
“The importance of these two parallel passages cannot be overstated, although it is not for want of trying on the part of commentators. For example, Brueggemann (First and Second Samuel p. 259) most effusively pronounces his judgment that ‘this oracle with its unconditional promise to David [is] the most crucial theological statement in the Old Testament.’ Pentecost (Thy Kingdom Come, p. 148) adds that ‘the covenant God made with David became the foundation of Israel’s hope. …The basis for Israel’s expectation that a king would arise from the house of David who would … bring them into the blessings of the covenants.’ Bergin (1, 2 Samuel, pp. 336-37) concurs, pointing out that ‘the Lord’s words recorded here constitute the longest recorded monologue attributed to him since the days of Moses. … The covenant that the Lord established with the House of David became the nucleus around which messages of hope proclaimed by Hebrew prophets of later generations were built.’
“The Davidic Covenant consists of seven related components:
“First, while the immediate introductory context of 2 Samuel 7 concerns David’s desire to build a temple for the Lord, the Lord makes a clever reversal. Rather than David building the Lord a house (in the sense of a temple), God Himself pronounced that He will build a house (in the sense of a royal dynasty) for David (2 Samuel 7:11).
“Second, upon David’s death, the son, who at this time has yet to be born, will serve as his successor and heir and reign securely (2 Samuel 7:12-16). As Scripture unfolds, it is revealed that this is fulfilled through the rule of David’s son Solomon (1 Chronicles 22:8-10).
“Third, this immediate heir of David would be the one permitted to build a temple for the Lord (2 Samuel 7:13). Indeed, Solomon did build the temple, fulfilling this prophecy (1 Kings 6; 2 Chronicles 3-5) and fulfilling Moses’ expressed prophetic expectation of a central, permanent location of Israelite worship (Deuteronomy 12:11-12,21; 14:23-24; 16:2,6,11; 26:2).
“Fourth, the throne of this son’s kingdom will be established forever. Only the Davidic dynasty would possess the exclusive, divinely authorized authority to rule over the nation of Israel. This theme of the eternality of the Davidic throne, mentioned in 2 Samuel 7:13,16 is further developed within the parallel 1 Chronicles passage.
“Fifth, as God had long ago promised to make His servant Abrahams name great (Genesis 12:2), He likewise promised that He would make His servant David’s name great (2 Samuel 7:9). This was already being accomplished within David’s lifetime, and even now, some three millennia afterward, he is still both beloved and revered by the Jewish people.
“Sixth, God pronounced that at some unspecified future time, Israel, planted securely within her land, would experience an unprecedented era of permanent tranquility, peace, security, and justice (Amos 9:11-15) that had, as its basis, the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:10). This coming millennial kingdom is the oft-mentioned, fervently anticipated hope of the Hebrew prophets who wrote in the wake of this covenant.
“Seventh, there is an unconditional divine commitment to this covenant, expressed in the promise never to remove the Lords covenant love/ mercy (Hebrew, chesed ) from the dynasty as it had been removed from Saul, whose dynasty was subsequently cut off. Although divine discipline would be meted out for individual kings’ sins, David’s dynasty would never be abolished and would continue in perpetuity (2 Samuel 7:15). Certainly Solomon, who did indeed sin according to the biblical record, required and received the Lord’s discipline (1 Kings 11:14,24-26). Yet the Davidic dynasty continued, although Solomons kingdom split almost immediately subsequent to his death (1 Kings 11:31-38).
“Interestingly, the 1 Chronicles passage, which so closely parallels much of the 2 Samuel passage, omits any mention of the possibility of the future Davidic heir sinning. That is because 1 Chronicles looks beyond David’s immediate and imperfect successor, Solomon, and looks ahead to a future, perfect, ultimate Son of David.”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

 

My Thoughts

David told Nathan that he wanted to build a house for God.  Nathan’s immediate reaction was that David was on God’s side and he should do whatever he thought best, but that night, God told Nathan that David would not be the king to build God’s house.

But then, in this version, compared to 2 Samuel 7:8-16, God does not give any provisions that the king must not sin.  And the outcome here is all enemies defeated and the people will never be oppressed.  This type of language looks like Jesus as the King of kings and the enemies of Satan, sin, and death are defeated.  Jesus is literally the Son of God.  It could point to the millennial reign, but the house of the Lord in this case might be Paradise.

Then David prays in the humblest of fashions.  He was just a mere shepherd, and God lifted him up and God placed him in a position where his name would be honored like the greats of earth.  Indeed, Jesus is a son of David by genealogy.

In David’s prayer, he spends most of the time glorifying God.

Contrast this reaction with the photo above. The photo is the mirror hall of Linderhof Palace in Bavaria, built by Mad King Ludwig. He thought he was wonderful and he glorified himself, while David took all the gold from the spoils of war, saving them for the temple, and he humbled himself before God.

First Chronicles 18 starts with David’s military conquests.  The Philistines were defeated, but the Moabites and Edomites were both defeated and subjugated, requiring tribute.  This distinction may be from the fact that the Philistines were not Canaanites.  It seems there is a lot of discussion amongst scholars as to who they were.  There are artifacts being found that point to Greece, but as a people who traded along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, those artifacts could be what they purchased.  There also seems to be an Egyptian connection.

But the Edomites were the descendants of Esau and the Moabites the descendant of the incestuous offspring of Lot’s older daughter.  The Edomites were descendants of Israel’s brother, and thus Abraham.  The Moabites descended from Abraham’s nephew, Lot.  As cousins who had gone astray, this might point to the addition of subjugation.

The defeat of Hadadezar was a significant victory.  It is hard to identify which Hadadezar this Scripture is referring to in that Hadad, Ben Hadad, and Hadadezar were more names for the king rather than a given name of a specific king.  But other kings gave tribute to David in that David defeated their enemy.

David took the tributes and the spoils of war and placed it all in a storeroom for the building of the temple.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

“1 Chronicles 17:1-15 God’s Promise to David 1. When have you felt like doing God a favor?
“2. Which do you find motivates you more in your work: (a) Guaranteed contracts? (b) Performance incentives ? Give an example. Which do you find motivates you more in your worship: (a) God’s promises, which are not dependent on your performance? (b) God’s conditional clauses, where obedience is expected to fully realize the terms of the covenant? Explain.
“3. David would not realize his dream (a house for the Lord). What life dream or goal are you beginning to see that you will not accomplish by you’?
1 Chronicles 17:16-27 David’s Prayer 1. How do you respond to the promises of a trustworthy God? How do you most often address God? Do you more often ask, or thank, God for things? What does that say about your rapport with him?
“2. Rank 1 to 5 these five activities: corporate worship; table grace; pregame prayer; solitary prayer; small group prayer. What makes certain prayer situations more satisfying than others?
“3. What does David’s prayer inspire you and your group to pray for?

1 Chronicles 18:1-13 David’s Victories 1. Has your nation‘s army ever adopted the belief that God was on its side? What are the benefits, and the dangers, of such ‘God-and-country’ dogma? If God is credited for David’s wins, what about for his losses, and the decimation of others? ls God to blame win, lose or draw?
“2. Over what ‘enemy’ has God given you victory? Where have you yet to experience his victory?
“3. What possessions, abilities or resources would you like to ‘dedicate’ anew to God, as does David in this story?
1 Chronicles 18:14-17 David’s Officials 1. What cabinet post would have been most attractive to you? Which would have been toughest under David?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

1 Chronicles 17 and 18 have two sets of questions each as noted above.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.